


The Bodyguard (working title)

by PurpleMockingbird



Category: For the People (TV 2018), The Bodyguard (1992)
Genre: Bodyguard AU, F/F, Kate is an AUSA who needs protection, Sandra is a Secret Service Agent, probably fluffy at some point
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-02-07 09:20:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18617719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleMockingbird/pseuds/PurpleMockingbird
Summary: Sandra Bell is a high ranking Secret Service agents entasked with protecting A-USA Kate Littlejohn after several assassination attempts on her life.This will be action-y and fluff-y. I love the original The Bodyguard so keep an eye out for some easter eggs.First chapter Sandras POV before she meets Kate for the first time.





	1. Chapter 1

The first time Sandra Bell had heard of Kate Littlejohn was on the news. Reports of shots fired at an Assistant US-Attorney of the District of New York. For a few hours there was live-reporting until a press conference confirmed that Miss Littlejohn was fine. Sandra hadn’t thought much of it. Of course, an attack on a public figure, in some capacity, reminded everyone in the office of their job but other than that, no one payed much thought to it. 

When within the week she heard of a second attack, meticulously executed, injuring the A-USA, her training as a Secret Service agent kicked in. An attack can come out of nowhere, no one knowing it will happen before it does – but a second attack! Surely someone - whoever was in charge of security down in New York - must have anticipated it. The lunch-kitchen area of the Secret Service headquarters was filled with agents, shaking their heads, talking about security failures by the police. All of them reminded of the importance of their jobs. 

The third time Sandra Bell heard of Kate Littlejohn, was vastly out of the context she would have expected. She was currently providing back-up for the security detail of the vice president for a press conference he was holding. She was scanning the back entrance area, as she heard him announce that the President herself, would order a detail of Secret Service agents to support the protection of Kate Littlejohn. “A vital member of our society, that upholds our government and protects our country, was viciously attacked. We believe in sending a message here. We protect our own!”. 

-|-|-|-|-

Sandra Bell believed, with all her soul, in protecting people. She was emotional and thorough and relentless about her assignments. Because of this and her remarkable intelligence and intuition she had risen the ranks of the Secret Service quickly. Her boss, Special Agent Jill Carlan, had told her that she would – as soon as the opportunity arose, and she was determined to be a good fit for the protectee – lead her own detail.

This is how Sandra found herself, standing in front of the large, importance- exuding building, that was the Court of the Southern District of New York. She was early and alone – her small team of one security-tech and a rather young Secret Agent named Ted was still en route, with the necessary gear to build up this operation.   
The fact that they were only three, told Sandra that this was mainly a publicity stunt on parts of the White House. Real protection was usually provided by a dozen agents but she would do all she could to make up for the lack of manpower. If she had to will herself into existence at two different locations she would. This woman deserved her protection and even if she didn't Sandra would still give it everything she had, just because it was her job to do so. 

Her determined look grew a little thoughtful as she scanned her surroundings.   
Busy people went in and out of the building. Even though there were metal detectors at the entrance, no one had to provide any sort of documentation to confirm they were supposed to be in the court. It wasn’t a security nightmare, but it wasn’t ideal either.   
She was hoping the conditions at the US Attorneys Office would be more to her liking. She would have to wait until after her meeting with the Chief Judge Nicolas Byrne, the US Attorney Roger Gunn and her protectee, AUSA Kate Littlejohn to find out.

She decided to do a little experiment. She went back to her car to get the bright yellow safety vest from the trunk.   
She pocketed her badge and holstered her gun at the back of her trousers, the safety vest covering it. She messed up her hair a little and put on some ill-fitting glasses, making her look mildly nerdy and exhausted. Very much like the clerks she had seen going in and out of the court.   
Last but not least she took two case-file boxes from the back of her car and made her way to the entrance of the court. 

She saw the employee and wheel-chair entry point, next to the metal detectors. She put on her best stressed and “I’m late”-face and walked towards the entry point with as much casualness as an employee who worked there would have.   
“Hey Jay” she clumsily waved her hand at the security guard, reading his name from the little badge he wore.   
He eyed her suspiciously and she followed up with a “Could you?” gesturing to the little door, “I need to get this to Judge Issac asap – you know how he gets.” 

His expression grew friendly and he smiled at her, pressing a button to automatically open the little door “Have a nice day!” he waved at her and Sandra knew protecting this place would be a lot harder than she thought.

As soon as she turned a corner, she got rid of the safety vest and glasses, took out the blazer she stored in the file case and holstered her weapon at her hip and straightened out her hair.   
She just left the empty file cases standing there and went right back to the entrance.

As soon as the security guard spotted her he jumped up, on high alert, his hand already going to his weapons holster.   
‘Quick reaction’ she thought and waved her badge, to make him see that she wasn’t a threat.   
She closed the few meters until she reached him in a confident stride. The fact that she wasn’t very tall didn’t stop her from staring down the man in front of her. 

“Agent Sandra Bell, with the Secret Service. Can you explain to me what just happened?” she said in an authoritative but calm tone.   
The security guard gulped a little and just stuttered some sort of excuse.   
“I want to speak to your supervisor this afternoon. We have a lot to discuss about the security of this place.” She paused a little, a plan forming “Your name is Jay?”   
“Yes Mam, Jay Simmons.”  
“You will make up for this security breach, Mr Simmons. You talk to your boss. Smooth the way so that our departments can work together and I will forget about this specific incident. See you at 1600”.  
She ended the sentence with a stern look and a warning in her voice and turned on her heel. 

The meeting would start soon now.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sandra and Kate meet.   
> After first disputes they warm up to eachother a little.   
> Again Sandras POV. 
> 
> I want to write one from Kates POV. Maybe just a small scene just so you know what it looks like in her head. Ideas?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a little easter egg in there from a very popular wlw couple. Hit me up when you find ;)

When Sandra Bell entered rooms, very often she had to make clear, what she was capable of. Her 1,60m (5ft 3) height didn’t naturally scream dominance and strength to many people. When she entered the chambers of Chief Judge Byrne, this was not a problem.

She gave herself a few seconds to muse about why this was. 

Maybe she herself was perceived more powerful since she was protecting a woman, not unlike herself in physical attributes, who was in her role as A-USA so powerful, that she put away one of the richest members of Wall Street for his monetary connections to a right-winged terrorist group, which had killed 5 people the year prior. 

Of course, this came with the cost of being one of the most threatened public figures ever to have a role in New York judicial system and ultimately several attempts on her life, one of which lead to her being grazed by a bullet on her right arm.   
Sandra had read all of this in her case file.

What she hadn’t read was how her protectee was taking it all. There was a small paragraph on ‘psychological well-being’ in the report, which just noted that Miss Littlejohn had had no prior diagnosis with a psychological disorder. Only that, even if you’re not diagnosed with one of those, being shot at – twice – can really take a toll. Sandra herself had had to work through some of the close calls she had experienced while protecting a foreign dignitary, right out of the training academy. 

 

With that question in mind, she waited silently in Judge Byrnes office, for the US-Attorney and Miss Littlejohn to arrive. The Chief Judge had summoned her a little early to make it clear that the protection of Kate Littlejohn was of utmost importance to him. Also, the Court would do anything in its power to guarantee her safety in the building.

 

Sandra was seated across from Judge Byrnes table, when the door opened. She got up and was prepared for everything – tear-streaked face, panicked looks or Kate Littlejohn not being there at all, due to not wanting to leave her house – but – she was met with none of this.   
The woman in front of her looked collected and confident. Her loose-fitting suit and the buttoned up shirt exuded professionalism as well as – and Sandra reprimanded herself for the thought – fit her beautifully.

She made a point of shaking Kate Littlejohns hand first, establishing eye contact.

“Miss Littlejohn, I’m Sandra Bell with the Secret Service. I will run the team of agents that will protect you from now on.”

“I thank you sincerely for that.” Kate Littlejohns voice held no sarcasm (like many before her had), only short, neutral professionalism. “As long as it will not interfere with my role at the states attorneys office, I am sure we can work well together.”

“I’m sure we will find a way. I would like to go over the details of what this protection entails as soon as possible.” 

“Very well, I don’t think I’ll be free today or tomorrow –Wednesday?”

As Kate Littlejohn said this, she looked serious. No trace of humor, which Sandra was desperately waiting for, since – no – two days from now, will not be an option. 

As she responded, Sandra kept her voice calm and quiet but it still came out a little agitated.   
“With all due respect, Mam – by ‘as soon as possible’ I meant within the following two hours, not days. You do understand, this is about your safety?” 

“I don’t think that will be possible – I have a deposition today.”

The cold way, Kates response was delivered with complete disregard for her safety, made Sandra furious, something that was evident in her tone when she answered: 

“I’m sure the President of the United States had plenty to do on her first day of business, and yet she was able to find the time to discuss security!”. Her tone grew calmer as she looked into Kates eyes, which were a little wide in surprise by the little outburst, and she continued “please, I promise I will try to stay out of your day as much as possible – but there is a reason I’m here. You need protection and I cannot protect you until we have talked about the details of your life and how I do my job.”

After a few intense seconds, as they looked into eachothers eyes, Sandra had already forgotten that other people were in the room. Silence. It seemed like Kate was deliberating her best response when Roger Gunn, her boss, ordered her to let someone else hold the deposition and ‘for gods sake, care a little about your safety.’.

Kate took a deep breath, straightened herself and smoothed her jacket and eventually nodded. Sandra thought she saw a little apology in her eyes but it was gone in the blink of an eye.

Judge Byrne, who had watched the scene with a mildly amused look, now ordered Kate, in a strict voice, to follow all safety-precautions that were seen fit by Agent Bell or she would not need her protection anymore since she would be out of a job. He didn’t take the threat in one of his courts lightly, Sandra could see that and she was grateful for the powerful ally she had made. 

 

When they left the office, Kate looked at her a little exasperated but then only said “so – what now, Agent Bell?”. 

-|-|-|-|-

The next hours went by in a meeting room at the court house, as Sandra asked Kate about her daily routines, social contacts, relationships, usual dining places, hobbies, history of cases and pretty much anything else that there was in her life. 

While she had to collect this information to provide full protection, Sandra found herself more and more personally invested in the safety of the impressive woman in front of her. She was a professional through and through – a rule follower for the good of humanity, with little regard for selfishness. Sandra liked the person in front of her – even though she had seemed impossible at first.

Then Sandra laid out what would happen from now on:

Every room she would enter will be cleared beforehand. An agent will be at her side always.

Safe-zones will be established. These are zones in which safety is guaranteed at all times – the court, the US-Attorneys office, her flat. There she will be able to move freely without an agent, after the first sweep of the day. 

Transportation will only happen in government designated Secret Service vehicles. 

The entry points to her flat will be camera surveilled from now on. 

If she wanted, she will be trained in self-defense by a member of the Secret Service.

Her security detail will remember all the faces of her colleagues, friends and acquaintances, in order to let these approach without trouble. Everyone else would be first stopped and searched. 

She will wear a bracelet with a panic button, which should only be pressed in emergencies. 

 

As Sandra listed these points, Kates usually calm, professional, ram-rod straight posture changed a little and Sandra stopped for a second to really look into Kates eyes. She saw insecurity and – as would be expected after hearing all that – uncomfortableness.

Sandra moved from the chair across the table to one next to Kates and as her eyes grew kind, she said “I know this is a lot. I know you’ve been through a lot. I promise you, I will do everything I can to protect you.” and after a short break “..AND stay out of your way while doing it.” 

Sandra gave her a small, apologetic smile, in which she wanted to convey the sympathy she had for her protectee and to her surprise, the look in Kates eyes brightened lightly and she smiled back at her while she gave her a little nod.

“How’s your arm?” Sandra asked, looking at her protectee from the side. When her tone was professional before this sounded more like she was personally interested – she knew that, but she couldn’t help it.

“Hurts” Kate just said and Sandra let out a little laugh.

“I swear I have heard decorated Secret Service Agents make more of a fuss around being shot.”

“Shot at.” Kate corrected, humor in her eyes.

“Right” Sandra said as she leaned back. “I’m here so that that won’t happen again. Ready to continue?” she asked.

As Kate nodded, Sandra went back to her chair across from the table and laid out more of the investigational part of the protection process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come talk to me about this beautiful pair on tumblr at:   
> https://imhereforthetvshows.tumblr.com/


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A car ride.  
> Kates POV this time

Kate Littlejohn wasn’t easy to scare. Fear didn’t come naturally to her. The bullies in her highschool hadn’t made her afraid and neither had the sharks in law school. She had always stood behind her principles of logic, professionalism and human kindness. Even if she wasn’t the most outgoing and warm person, these principles have not only guided her to become an excellent prosecutor but a kind friend and reliable family member. 

Kate still wasn’t afraid, or at least she wasn’t aware of it being otherwise, but she didn’t feel the safest either.

Now, as she sat in the back of a ridiculously huge government vehicle on her way home – next to her Agent Sandra Bell – she was thinking about all the measures that had to be taken to protect her because other people were afraid for her.

She chanced a glance at the person entrusted with protecting her. 

Agent Bell sat in a relaxed posture looking outside the window with attentive eyes, scanning their surroundings. When they had talked, she had seemed very capable and confident and yet very different from herself. She could see the fire and care and emotion clearly written in her eyes when she talked about protecting her. It actually had been quite unsettling, seeing someone she didn’t know, looking at her with so much emotion. But Kate couldn’t help and feel a little safer next to this 5 ft 2, ball of fire, who had decided to focus all of her energy on protecting her. 

Kate wondered if the Secret Service sent their physically smallest Agent on purpose, to make her more comfortable. The thought was quite funny to her and she couldn’t hide a smile, which of course, was caught by the Agent next to her. 

Sandra Bell tilted her head to the side a little and looked at her with a small amused look in her eyes. 

“You gotta tell me what you were thinking of just now.” 

It wasn’t said in an unprofessional manner but it sounded very different from the conversations they had had before, Kate noted. And the subject of the question made it clear that this wasn’t asked in the name of security. For a second Kate pondered if the Secret Service trained their agents to gain the trust of their protectees by showing some interest and making conversation. But when she glanced at Sandras shining eyes, full of interest, she was pretty sure, the Agent really just wanted to know. 

So she told her. 

“I wondered if the Secret Service sent their physically smallest Agent on purpose to make me more comfortable”. 

She said it with good natured humor in her voice but as soon as she did, she felt nervous if the Agent was going to take it well. She was sure the woman had had to fight very hard due to her size and gender to get to where she was in law enforcement. She should have stuck to her professional self - she reprimanded herself in her head.

But her worries were cut short by the loud and quite beautiful sound of Sandra Bell laughing.

“Yeah, I know. Send the small blonde to protect the other small blonde – doesn’t seem like a coincident.” She laughed a little more and continued “but no, I was promised my own detail as soon as a situation demanded it and that is what happened.” 

“So my being shot at, is the best thing to happen to your career, huh?” 

It was said in a teasing tone and Kate didn’t really know what she was trying to do here. Why was she teasing her bodyguard and why did it come so naturally to her?

When she heard that sound again – Sandra Bell laughing – she got an idea why she had done it. The sound was addictive, and open and uninhibited and honest. 

That wasn’t something common in the world she lived in - the world of lawyers and courts. Every move seemed calculated, even if it didn’t regard a case or something professional. In fact, she had had a classmate at university who trained herself to laugh differently, when an asshole of a lawyer, who had held a guest lecture, told her her laugh was obnoxious and loud.

Sandra shook her head a little and said 

“Yes, kind of. But, that also means you have someone that protects you, who is trying real hard to prove themselves – soo.. good for you too, Miss Littlebell”.   
As so often today, Kate was taken aback by Sandras openness. 

She didn’t know a person, herself included, who would tell someone they had just met they were trying to prove themselves. She guessed that that was something uniquely special about Sandra Bell, because she couldn’t imagine a lot of “badass” secret agents being very open about their feelings either. 

This uniqueness drew her to Sandra and before she could stop herself, she held out her right hand and said “It’s Kate, actually”.

The agent looked a little taken aback, like she hadn’t expected that, but quickly shook her hand “Sandra”.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a short one because the second part, which is Sandras POV got too long and I had to make it into Chapter 5
> 
> A little insight into Kates psyche

“Please stay in the car while I check the flat.” Sandra said – back to a very professional tone.   
It didn’t feel like a request and more like an order. And, to her surprise, Kate felt inclined to follow it. 

This woman would end up being a great leader, she thought to herself as she watched Sandra step out of the car. 

Through the window she saw Sandras hand go to the holster of her gun as she reached the door. She didn’t seem nervous but Kates heart picked up the speed.

‘That’s probably just a precaution. If she thought something was off, she would have pulled her gun.’ she calmed herself.

She felt her whole body go tense and her hands grow sweaty. 

The first deep breath she could take, was 10 minutes later when she saw Sandra emerge from the building, gesturing to the driver, who Kate recognized as part of the court security, that everything was fine.

Kate shook off all that froze her in place and opened the door. Sandras steps got a little faster, and when she reached Kate she said “Please don’t do that.” That wasn’t a request either.

“I’m capable of exiting a car.” Kate said and looked sternly into Sandras eyes. 

A line formed in between Sandras eyebrows and she took a big breath before she motioned for Kate to walk into the flat.

Kate did walk but she also said “Ignoring something your protectee says, isn’t very professional, Agent Bell.”

“Not following a protocol, we just established a few hours ago, isn’t either, Miss Littlejohn.” 

While Kate’s sentence had sounded professional even if a little angered maybe, Sandras reply sounded frustrated and angry and – Kate was surprised to hear – also a little hurt. 

Truth be told, she was well aware of the protocol and why it was in place, but something within her screamed for autonomy and she had disregarded the protocol.

Awkward silence filled the elevator that took them to the third floor, where Kates apartment was.

Kate felt bad, she had not wanted to go back to calling her protector by her last name or disregard the protocols that were in place. But being so careful at every step, also showed her that she was vulnerable at every step. It wasn’t a good feeling. In fact, it was a feeling she had been avoiding ever since this started.

The last few days she had gone out of her way to go out to eat every night or sit in the park during her lunch break, just to prove to herself that she still could do these things safely. Now someone tasked to protect the nations leaders is telling her that she can’t get out of a car anymore. It just felt wrong to her.

She wanted to say that – explain herself – and she knew Sandra would react kindly. Kate already knew for a fact, that Sandra would be very empathetic and would try to comfort her somehow. But comfort just meant another step into the direction of fear, and that was a direction Kate Littlejohn rejected. 

So she said nothing and just followed protocol until she was safely in her flat and Sandra told her she would be in the empty apartment next door, if she needed anything.  
“Thank you, Sandra.” Kate said, just as Sandra was about to close the door. 

She stopped for a second and turned around. 

“Goodnight, Kate.” She said warmly with a small smile and Kate knew her covered apology was received.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one is a little insight into Sandra.   
> You can tell she is the more intensly emotional one.
> 
> Also we meet Allison this chapter - yeeey

Right after she left Kate safely in her apartment, Sandra went down to the car to relief Jay Simmons for the day. 

The guy had had a pretty exciting day, she imagined. Considering he could have been fired in the morning it was probably a pretty big surprise that he was then recruited as an external addition to the security detail. But Sandra had seen some potential in him and he had smoothed the talks with the head of security of the court considerably.   
Having a team member inside the detail was important to his boss and Sandra could use another pair of eyes. Even if she had to train him a little. As soon as her team arrived tomorrow and someone else could shadow Kate for a while, she would start training Jay to drive and check his shooting abilities.

When she told him that, he seemed absolutely excited and promised he would not disappoint her. She took the keys to the car and waved him goodbye. She liked the guy but she honest to god hoped he would not disappoint her!

It was now officially her responsibility if something happened to Kate. 

‘Kate’ she thought. 

She hadn’t imagined her protectee would offer her a first-name basis or easy to be around – the scene with the car excluded – she wasn’t sure what that was about. 

She took a deep breath of evening air, closed her eyes and let the cool breeze of april New York take away all her thoughts for a second. Her head instead of, as usual, clearing, went back to Kates face, her smile, the way Kate eyes glinted as she watched her while Sandra was laughing at her joke. 

A second later she shook her head. What was all that about? Yes, her protectee was charming and beautiful and maybe an absolutely stunning person but that had to be irrelevant. She needed a clear head in order to protect this woman. In order to carry out her assignment. 

She pushed the thought away and sent out a text message to her team members to meet her as soon as they landed tonight.

Then Sandra ordered Chinese to the apartment building around the corner and shortly thought about getting something for Kate too. But she was quick to remind herself, that it wasn’t actually the Secret Service mission to feed their protectees, so she decided against it. 

After eating and getting two hours of sleep, her team arrived. 

Allison Adams was her friend. Had been ever since the academy and she was glad to have her on her team. She was brilliant and Sandra knew no one who was better with computers than her. For once she was glad the Agency hadn’t grasped Allisons full potential yet, otherwise she would be on a much bigger task force.

Ted, she didn’t know much about. She had been on a few operations with him and he had seemed competent and serious about his job. But this was his first permanent assignment to the detail of someone, so Sandra and Allison would have to keep an eye on him.

For a second there, Sandra flashed to a scene of him and Kate becoming involved. One of the standard mistakes people make when inexperienced. Getting too close to the protectee. For some reason the idea made her a little too mad and she knew she had to put that emotion into a neat little box somewhere in her head. 

‘It’s just a scenario – calm down, Sandra. The guy hasn’t done anything wrong’, she reprimanded herself and went back to greeting her team. 

Allison gave her a little confused look – she had seen Sandras troubled eyes but Sandra just brushed her off and went straight into work mode. 

They set up the cameras in the hallways silently and put up a make-shift work area. By then it was in the middle of the night and Sandra had let Ted go to bed in the hotel across the street. He and Allison would stay in rooms there because the apartment was too little to actually house 3 people. During the day their base of operations would be there though. 

Allison had stayed behind on her own volition, sensing that something was up with her best friend. Sandra seemed tense, if not a little out of her element.  
“Is your first assignment getting to you, Sandy?” 

Sandra turned around from checking the cameras on one of the screens and replied

“Why’d you ask?”

“You just seem above average stressed. When we came in it was like you were on high alert or something.”

“Well, I am. Threat could be immanent. There were already two attempts. I would rather we could stop it before it become three.” 

“Yes” Allison said, a searching look on her face “and that was the case with many more people we have protected over the years, Sandy. Is it because you’re team leader on this one?”

Sandra wished it was that, but she suspected that she was slightly off her game because the impressive and beautiful A-USA had gotten to her.   
The fact was – she wasn’t above average stressed – she was above average involved. She felt like this one was more personal than ever before. Shortly she wondered if that was just how it was to be team leader. 

She cast all that aside and just focused on hoping a good nights sleep of another 2 hours would get her back on her normal, firmly planted, professional two feet. 

She said something along the lines of just needing some rest and told Allison she would take the couch if she didn’t want to take the walk across the street to the hotel. 

Allison didn’t seem completely satisfied with the answer but let it be for now. She decided to stay for the night. Sandra had told her long ago that she would always have her back. Whatever it was with this assignment, Allison would gladly return the favor!


End file.
